Iowa’s magical soccer season continuing

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — If Cinderella’s slipper fits, you might as well wear it.

The University of Iowa’s women’s soccer team will continue its magical postseason Sunday when it faces third-seeded Wisconsin for the Big Ten tournament title.

The Hawkeyes, 2-8-1 in the regular season, shut down and shut out fourth-ranked and top-seed Penn State, 1-0, on Thursday in the Big Ten semifinals.

It was Iowa’s third win in 29 matches against Penn State and its first in State College, Pa. Freshman Meike Ingles’ goal in the 47th minute was the Hawkeyes’ first against the Nittany Lions since 2015.

This has been an unlikely run to the Big Ten tournament championship game, the third such berth in school history.

“They're bought in, we talked about being bought into the process and investing even more and believing that your input affects your output,” Iowa Coach Dave DiIanni said after Thursday’s win. “A lot of it was what you saw today, you know, the defensive grit, the slide tackling, the blocked shots and the willingness to work for each other.”

Iowa fended off 24 total Penn State shot attempts and freshman goalkeeper Macy Enneking had a career-high nine saves on Thursday.

Not bad for a team that started the season 0-6-1.

“There are a lot of reasons we weren't prepared to be successful early in the year, and some of it was that we did lose 14 seniors,” DiIanni said. “We're doing the necessary things to be successful, specifically in the Big Ten with no nonconference schedule.”

Iowa will face third-seeded Wisconsin at 11 a.m. The game will be televised by BTN.